The United States men's national team has reached a turning point. With Landon Donovan retired and a veteran core led by Clint Dempsey, Jermaine Jones, Kyle Beckerman and DaMarcus Beasley failing to defeat Mexico in Saturday's Confederations Cup playoff, coach Jurgen Klinsmann has some tough decisions to make. His team has to get younger, and that starts with a friendly against Costa Rica on Tuesday.
USA vs. Costa Rica 2015 live stream: Time, TV schedule and how to watch USMNT online
Big changes to the USMNT start on Tuesday.
Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
There might be a holdover starter or two, but most of the team will change for his match, as Klinsmann gets a look at some of the players he hasn’t included in recent big matches. With World Cup qualifying looming, he has to figure out which fringe players are good enough to play a role and which ones aren’t very quickly.
Los Ticos are in a fairly similar position. They sent some of their veterans home after the first friendly in this break and will try out some younger players in this match. Costa Rica have a number of top players in their 30s, and will also use the next phase of World Cup qualifying to figure out what they have in their younger generation ahead of the Hex.
Roster changes
Nine USMNT players have been sent home, while five have been added. Beasley, Beckerman, Dempsey, Nick Rimando, Matt Besler, Michael Bradley, Graham Zusi, Chris Wondolowski and Fabian Johnson have all left the team. Johnson was not originally included on the list of released players, but was later sent home after Klinsmann publicly accused him of embellishing an injury and questioned his commitment to the team. Bill Hamid, Mix Diskerud, Lee Nguyen, Brek Shea and Andrew Wooten have been added to the team, and Wooten will get his first cap if he plays.
Key player -- DeAndre Yedlin
Whether it’s at right back or right midfield, Yedlin will be one of the few players who played a role in the Mexico defeat who will have a serious chance to shine for the United States against Costa Rica. He’s probably the fastest player on the team and he creates chances when he actually gets opportunities to get forward.
Match Date/Time: Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Red Bull Arena, Harrison, N.J.
TV: ESPN (English), UniMas (Spanish)
Online: Watch ESPN (English), Univision Deportes en vivo (Spanish)
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